My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 617

Surely they wouldn't take their clothes off here too. If I stumbled upon that, this episode would be over. Seeing a girl undress and getting forgiven is a privilege of the male protagonist in "Out of Love" (Note 26).

I became more alert and was preparing to check the situation inside.

"No peeping, okay?!"

Komachi sneaked up behind me, startling me so much I almost jumped.

"...You, you! You almost made me scream!"

As expected of my sister. She didn't forget to learn the skills of an outsider.

"What are you doing, sneaking around like that?"

"I'm checking the condition of those oranges."

"Why don't we just go in?"

Komachi opened the door without knocking (it was her own room, so of course she had the right not to knock).

Are you studying?

"Ah, Komachi. No, I'm resting now."

"Why don't you rest here for a bit?"

Fortunately, they hadn't taken their clothes off. However, they were eating chocolate while looking at their phones.

"Really—this is a book club! If we don't figure out the problems that someone can't understand while studying now, it'll be terrible later!"

"Okay, I will. I'll rest a little longer before going to school."

"This snack is delicious! It's new!"

Hachiman knew. This was the final model where he wouldn't study.

"Don't stop now. Komachi, come back later."

We left Komachi's room.

"...It just doesn't feel like a book club anymore. It feels like a bunch of people come to our house and each goes off to do their own thing."

"I'm sorry, brother, things have turned out this way."

"No, it's not that things have turned out strange, it's that you were strange to begin with."

"They're all good kids! Even though they've become party animals with pre-exam depression, they're all really nice people! My first impression of them wasn't great, but after getting to know them, I found them all to be very friendly. They're rare talents, just like Hanawa."

"...Indeed, at first I thought Hanawa was an annoying, pretentious guy."

It was mostly Xiaofu's fault.

"Let's go. If we take care of the remaining seven, we'll have accomplished our mission. Including you, there are eight of us."

This result is a bit far from "accomplishing the task." Nevertheless, I have tried my best.

I'm a workaholic. I hate work so much, if I became an office worker, I might become a corporate slave, how scary.

I went back to the living room.

Including Komachi, there were eight people in total. They were elites who had survived the rigorous selection process and were aiming for the narrow gate of Tokyo University. Hmm, impossible. Not being able to sit at a desk for even three hours is a bad sign. One wrong move and they could go down the wrong path and fall to the very bottom.

I wanted at least those who survived to get into their second-choice university. With that in mind, I calmed down and focused on being a mentor.

I'm not very confident in math and science, but other subjects are no challenge for me at all.

Kali kali, kali kali.

The eight of them made the same writing sounds as the comedy duo (Note 27), greedily absorbing knowledge. They were quite focused. This was a result of isolating the four orange-loving members.

About an hour later, they were still focused on their studies without getting distracted or chatting. Previously, they would slack off after a short while, so it felt like they had been working hard for a long time.

My Buddhist heart has also begun to sprout.

"Is everyone thirsty? Would you like something to drink?"

"Ah, now that you mention it, my throat is so dry..." "If only there were a sweet drink..." "Yeah, I want something sweet." "My brain is dry..." "Thank you, big brother."

"OK, OK. I can meet your expectations."

A sweet drink?

Since you've made this request, there's only one answer.

The only clear answer is that I expected this to happen... no, I'm an outsider, so I never expected this to happen... I bought a whole case of drinks myself.

"Ah, it's so sweet... What is this?" "Huh, coffee? Coffee milk?" "Ugh, it seems a bit too sweet..."

That's right, it's MAX Coffee.

If someone comes to my house and wants a sweet drink, I'll bring it out—it's a natural philosophy, like an apple falling from a tree.

An apple would fall on the son's head, with an arrow stuck in it (Note 28).

"It's addictive once you get used to it, and it's also great for replenishing sugar. Plus, everyone at Soubu High School drinks it."

"W-I see! That's really useful information..." "Then try to drink it down..." "Thinking about it that way, it tastes better." "I'll want to drink it again."

Oops, I accidentally started proselytizing again.

I hope that my contributions, step by step, will bring about the wonderful miracle of the manufacturer sending me a year's supply of MAX coffee.

"Alright everyone—now that we've replenished our sugar levels, let's boost our deviation value by 10 points in one go!"

At Komachi's command, the seven people shouted "Whoa—!" and raised their fists twenty centimeters high. The party atmosphere has recovered somewhat since they arrived. Studying smoothly definitely makes one's mind more stable.

The candidates began writing furiously again.

Everything is going well. My service skills seem to have improved quite a bit as well.

However, things are not that simple.

"call."

Sighing, the person who'd sunk to the point of scrolling through their phone was actually the bespectacled girl aiming for Cambridge University! Eww... where did her serious, studious attitude go...?

I remember this guy won the "Most Class Monitor-like" award, right? I think it wasn't that award, but it was something similar. Why is it that someone who seems destined for greatness falls apart after only a little schooling?

"call."

And Komachi.

Wait, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

Hey Komachi, what's going on here?

"Hey, Komachi-san, what's going on here?"

Being able to speak my mind directly is one of the good things about family. I called Komachi out into the hallway and told her my true feelings without reservation.

"...Ugh, there seems to be a lazy wave coming from my left... Komachi didn't resist, and her attention was immediately diverted. How strange!"

"That's the terrifying thing about slothful fluctuations. If you get swallowed up by its massive waves, forget about taking the exam."

"what a shame……"

"You mean why there's always a certain number of people slacking off in your class? That's really amazing."

"Hmm, I don't know, it's been like this for a long time."

Is this a common trait among Komachi's classmates? No matter how many bad test-takers you eliminate, there will always be others who slack off. So, isolating them like this is pointless.

Why did this happen?

"It's probably because everyone here is a party animal and easily influenced by the atmosphere."

"Hmm—"

This doesn't make sense, but pressing Komachi for an answer won't help, so I didn't say it.

In a class where the atmosphere is important, when everyone is focused on studying, no one will slack off. Since the atmosphere is important, even if they don't want to, they'll still study.

Given the current situation, I even suspect that they might be slacking off out of instinct.

Instinct... At that moment, it dawned on me.

"Ah, I see. Ants."

"what?"

"You are ants!"

Komachi's eyes were as wide as plates. One moment it was fish, the next mushrooms, then matsutake, then a plate—she was so busy!

I immediately set about reorganizing the book club team.

The twelve ant-like test takers were divided into three groups of four. Group A was in my room, Group B was in Komachi's room, and Group C was in the living room.

"What's the point of dividing it up?"

"To explain, we must first explain the laws of worker ants."

"Ants?"

"Ants, like humans, are social creatures. But not all ants work diligently. Some ants slack off."

"I thought it was the cricket that was being lazy."

"Yes, the cricket was really harmed by that fable. But Komachi, the real cricket is not lazy at all. It's a very wary insect that tries its best to live in every moment."

"...Oh, my brother knows a lot about insects."

"I have a pretty good insect guide, and it's quite expensive, but that's not important! Now we're talking about ants. Listen carefully, it's said that in an ant society, only 20% of ants will put in their full effort."

"Twenty percent..."

"Those 20% are the corporate slaves of the ant world. They work tirelessly and do most of the work."

What are the remaining ants doing?

"Of the remaining ants, 60% are human ants. They do work, but they value their personal time more than their work and are the type to leave work on time. They only do the most basic tasks well."

"Oh, so it's someone who gives off an 'don't talk to me' vibe..."

If I ever end up working for a company in the future, I plan to be that kind of person.

"The diligent ones make up 20%, the unproductive ones make up 60%, and the last 20%... can't work at all. Any ant group can see this tendency, hence the name 'worker ant law'."

"Even in the world of ants, there are NEET issues."

"No, those two 'slackers' will work like crazy when it really matters. From a biological point of view, it seems like a kind of insurance. If everyone works at the same time, productivity will indeed increase temporarily, but they will all be exhausted at the same time, and society will actually become weaker. Those two 'slackers' are there to prevent that from happening."

"...Oh—what a thoughtful mechanism."

When I learned about this, I was deeply moved.

Marginalized living has its legitimacy in society! That's awesome, I did it! ...This feeling. But thinking about it calmly, being pushed harder than others in crucial moments isn't worth it at all. It's more like life is easy most of the time, but busy periods are hell; it's hardly a good life.

However, I don't want to get involved when everyone is working intensely towards a common goal. I hate the atmosphere of everyone doing things for me and me doing things for everyone else.

Everyone is being dragged down by one person, and one person is being dragged down by everyone... This actually fits the reality I know quite well, and I can totally relate to it.

In any case, if that situation were to occur, Professor Hiratsuka would probably specifically ask me to submit the unreasonable request.

Forced service, of course! What a heartless cult! And I, a member of that cult, am a corporate slave, with no hope of salvation.

"Hey, wouldn't it be spectacular if we gathered those 20% of the best ants? They'd all be capable ants! A great victory!"

Komachi was referring to opinions that are frequently raised.

Unfortunately, reality is not that simple.

"In that case, it will still be divided into 20%, 60%, and 20% proportions. That is to say, even if they are all elite ants, 20% of them will still automatically slack off."

"What!"

"That's just how group mentality is, isn't it?"

"...Humans are terrible."

"Yes, humanity has never had a smooth history. Just open a world history textbook. Almost every page is bloody."

"Then it's impossible for everyone to get into the University of Tokyo..."

"Because your class isn't the hottest girls in the bottom class, it's the bottom class." (Note 29)

Even the class monitor, who is supposed to be the symbol of wisdom in the class (although I don't know if she is actually the class monitor), is like that.

"However, since the worker ant law is in effect in your class, it means it's not just an individual problem. So it's not unsolvable."